Kurogane walked down the hall, ignoring the whispers he heard. He knew it was probably a bad idea-the choice he had made-but what was done was done. He tried to walk as surely as he usually did, even though he was severely nervous. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach churning as he reached his locker. Turning the combo on the lock, his locker swung open.
"Hey." A soft voice echoed in the brunette's ear. Kurogane turned towards the source of the voice.
"Hey Fai," Kurogane greeted. Fai grinned at Kurogane. His teeth were dazzlingly white, matching his fair complexion and dimpled grin. Kurogane tried to keep from staring. Finally able to look back at his locker, he picked up his books for the day. Fai watched him, leaning against the locker next to Kurogane's.
"So. I heard you finally came out of the closet. Just how did that come to be?" Kurogane shut his locker, a grim look on his face.
"I'd rather not talk about it, Fai," Kurogane warned. Fai only shrugged and pushed off the lockers to walk alongside the brunette jock.
"Suit yourself. You know, I think they already suspected since you hung out with me. I am the school gay you know." Kurogane rolled his eyes at that, but he knew it was true. To be honest, he didn't mean to always hang out with Fai, he just did. There was no one else who seemed unintimidated by him. He had met Fai at the beginning of middle school when everyone was just getting used to the hormones in the air. While walking down the hall, Kurogane had seen some kids beating up another and took it as his duty to protect his fellow classmate. He yelled away the other kids and held out his hand to help the kid up. The kid, who happened to be Fai, just stared at him, chuckling. He kept telling Kurogane how they would think Kurogane was a queer for saving him. Kurogane didn't know what that was so he asked Fai. After learning about it, Kurogane was still confused, but decided to go with it. As time went by, Kurogane realized he was gay. But he never said. No one ever asked and it wasn't their business anyway. However, the day before, someone had made a comment about a student at another school who had come out as gay and jokingly asked the entire team if they had any 'faeries' playing for with them. Kurogane's impromptu coming out had lead to some serious yelling matches.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter anyway. I don't give a shit what those assholes think. They just want people to pick on, but I don't think that they'll pick on someone who can cream their head in." Kurogane smirked, cracking his knuckles for effect. Fai laughed, knowing it was probably true.
"True true. Well I just hope things go ok for you, Kurgy." Fai grinned, well aware of how much his friend hated nicknames. Kurogane glared at him, but smiled anyway. They broke off to go to their seats, grinning.
"Hey! Hey Queen Queer!" A voice taunting called. Fai sighed and turned to face the boy behind him.
"What?" Fai was unamused. The boy looked at him, an inquisitive look on his face.
"Are you Kurogane's bitch?" Fai stared at the boy as if he was speaking a different language.
"What? No no no no no. We're just friends." Fai had often felt more than friendly feelings toward his friend, but it's not like he thought it would come to anything. The boy grinned maliciously.
"But no one else knows that, do they?" The boy's grin grew. Fai began to worry.
"Just what are you-"
"Woof bitch. Big doggy's bitch. Mrs. Suwa. Oh, this is gonna be fun, Queen." Fai turned to face the front of the room. He felt sick. He could throw up at any moment. But no such luck. It seemed he was going to have to go through the day listening to idiots yelling slurs. It wasn't like it bothered him, much, but Kurogane didn't need it. Not now.
Kurogane watched Fai's face, feeling angry. What the hell did that kid say to make Fai look so bewildered? Fai was his friend and even if he never seemed bothered by getting taunted, it still upset Kurogane that he had to deal with such idiocy. The bell rang, snapping Kurogane out of his thoughts. He saw Fai leave the room quickly, not even waiting for him. Kurogane frowned, figuring he would ask Fai about it at lunch. As he headed toward his second hour, he noticed the whispers had gotten louder. THere were more eyes on him. He took a deep breath and stood up taller. He could do this.
"Kurogane." Kurogane turned, locking eyes with his friend.
"Tomoyo." He offered a smile but she just stared at him.
"Be careful. You've really upset some people." Her brow furrowed in worry. Kurogane nodded.
"I know. I will be."
"You know, I would have recommended coming out and waiting a while before starting to date." This comment caught Kurogane off guard.
"Excuse me?" He stared, throat drying up. Tomoyo paused.
"You're not dating him?"
"Who?"
"Fai. People are talking about the fact that you and Fai are apparently dating now." Tomoyo frowned. Kurogane's eyes widened.
"Say what?"
"It's all around school that you two are together." Her voice was tight, anger seeping thorugh. Kurogane couldn't even form a reply, barely hearing the bell ring.
"I'll talk to you later, Tomoyo." He quickly ran off, hoping that something would get his mind off of him and Fai.
Fai sat on the bench in the locker room, looking at the floor. Condoms littered the floor, various colours and flavours smiling up at him. Normally, he would take it in good humor and fill them with butter, leaving them on all the other lockers, but today he couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't stop thinking about Kurogane and all the rumors. They were beginning to make his patience wear thin.
"Hurry up!" Syaoran's voice echoed off the walls of the locker room. Fai stood, shaking his head to try and clear it.
"Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm coming."
